What Can You Do With a Finance Degree?

Finance is a top subject that offers students great job prospects and high earning potential. The PayScale College Salary Report 2017-18 indicates that US graduates who have a bachelor's in finance earn an average salary of $57,500, which rises to $97,100 after 10 years.

Finance is a broad field that can lead to many different careers. There are roles for finance graduates in accounting firms, high-street banks, management consultancies, and investment firms. Finances are not as easy as they seem. It is okay if you ever wanted someone to “do my finance homework for me”.  For a complete list of finance careers, please read on.

Average Salary: US $59,026; UK £30,907

This first career in finance allows you to combine knowledge from multiple disciplines such as accounting, maths, and economics. You will be a financial analyst or financial analyst and you will be responsible for gathering and analyzing financial data that can be used to guide investment decisions. This could be an individual, non-profit organization, or government. As a financial analyst, you will be responsible for recommending the best way to overcome investment problems. You also need to keep up-to-date with market trends and investment opportunities within your area.

A bachelor's degree in finance or another related subject is required to become a financial analyst. A strong grasp of statistics and excellent presentation skills are essential for a successful career as a financial analyst.

Average Salary: US $70,573; UK £38,279

Financial managers are responsible for achieving and maintaining the company's financial goals. Your specific tasks will depend on the size of your company. Large companies might have financial managers who are involved in strategic analysis, while smaller companies might have financial managers responsible for preparing and collecting accounts. The role includes reviewing financial reports, budget management, managing employees, analyzing market trends, building a network of financial contacts, and analyzing investment results.

You will need to have a relevant degree in finance, along with strong analytical and numerical skills and personal qualities like teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Average Salary: $84,267 in the USA, £34.996 in the UK

You'll be able to pursue a career as a financial graduate. You'll work as a chartered accountant in a multinational company, government agency, or private firm to perform financial audits, provide financial advice, manage budgets, and deal with issues like insolvency. A specialty area you might choose to specialize in is auditing, management consulting, forensic accounting, corporate finance, taxation, or taxation.

You will need to obtain a professional qualification to become a chartered accountant. In the UK, this is called the ACA. It requires that you pass exams and complete at least three years of training. You will need to study to become a CPA in the US. This involves taking the Uniform CPA Exam.

Average Salary: $58,590 in USA, £352,220 in UK

Financial advisors are expected to grow rapidly in the future. They provide advice on managing money to clients, such as how to save, invest, plan for retirement, and how to get mortgages or other insurance products. Independent or limited, financial advisors can be either independent or restricted. Independent financial advisers (IFAs) research and consider all available financial products.

This job requires you to follow industry standards and hold professional qualifications. You can apply for this job in the UK by completing an apprenticeship, graduate training program, or by advancing to the position after you have worked as a paraplanner (providing administrative assistance to financial advisers). The Series 7 exam is administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in the USA.

Average Salary: $85,292 in the USA, £55.316 in the UK

Actuaries are able to forecast, evaluate, manage, and advise on financial risks in the future. Actuaries use statistics, mathematics, and the theory of finance in order to predict the probability of an event and to help their employer reduce the likely cost. Actuaries work in corporate finance, investment banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. They use mathematical modeling techniques, statistical modeling tools, and probability theories to help economic markets.

Effective communication skills are essential for actuaries to communicate complex information to non-specialists. A strong background in math, statistics, and business is required to become a numerical analyst. In the UK, this is the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, while in the USA, you can be verified by the Society of Actuaries or Casualty Actuarial Society.

You can also pursue other careers with a finance degree, such as financial trading. This involves selling and buying financial instruments, such as bonds, stocks, assets, and shares, for individuals or banks. The fast-paced and challenging job of a stockbroker may appeal to you. You'll help clients make informed decisions about which shares to buy or to sell in order to maximize their returns. As a teller or sales associate, trust officer loan officer, branch manager, trust officer, or trust officer in commercial banking, you could also be a bank teller. If you have a strong interest in law and are interested in licensing conveyancers, you might be able to work as a property lawyer, dealing with the legal, financial, and administrative aspects of property transactions. Graduates in finance could also be interested in roles within the taxation, hedge fund, and data science industries. If you are considering a CFO or Controller role, there are some key differences that you should know about the job description, click here to find out.